Friday I received a letter from the White House signed by President Bush. It is a certificate thanking my father for his military service (my father died in November. He served in the Army in the early sixties, pre-Vietnam).
My question is whether this is a common practice for Presidents or is this something new that President Bush is doing, since I’d never heard of this before. And no I’m not trolling for political rants, strictly factual answers please. My uncle, who served in Vietnam, seems to remember that he got a similar letter after leaving the Army from President Nixon, but he’s not sure.
And, because he was a POW (WWII) he also got a few dollars a day (I don’t remember how much) for each day he was a POW. It was enough for a down payment on a house back in 1948 or so.
I don’t know if it is common practice, but I’ll bet someone will be along soon enough with a cite about what the current and previous administration’s practices are/were.
It is very common for politicians to send letters of condolence or congratulations to their constituents. The White House routinely sends out letters in response to requests for greeting on the occasions of 100th birthdays, military retirements, funerals, and the like.
In fact, Strom Thurmond built part of his distinguished career on sending unsolitcited letters to his constituents for high school graduations, weddings, and other occasions.
I am not 100% clear of the occasion commemorated in your letter, but it sounds like a twist on a standard practice rather than something entirely new in itself.
The occasion was the death of a veteran. I don’t have the certificate in front of me, but it basically acknowledges his service. I wonder if the VA sends lists to the President of deceased veterans. My dad did die in a VA hospital, so I wonder if that had anything to do with that.
Was he a retired vet? I mean someone drawing a VA pension? My father spent a few years in the Marines but we did not get a letter. The father of a friend of mine was in the CIA and got a letter when he died signed by Bush Senior. I think if the VA is informed of the death(like when they are told to stop paying benefits) of a vet a letter will be sent.